Notes / Commercial Description:
Produced in the tradition of 18th Century English brewers who supplied the court of Russia’s Catherine the Great, Old Rasputin seems to develop a cult following wherever it goes. It’s a rich, intense brew with big complex flavors and a warming finish.

Reviews by mixnslam:

More User Reviews:

Pours a shade of black, barely dark brown around the very top and edges of the beer - looks super viscous and thick as hell. Leather-tan head, super thick with little fine bubbles; great definition and nice retention.

The chocolate aroma is noticeable even before putting your nose to the glass. Huge bouts of unsweetened, dark cocoa beans and bittersweet, black coffee/espresso beans as a secondary note. Big-time roasted malt aromas fill your head, leaving a silky smooth and buttery feeling before even taking a sip.

First sip, chocolate amasses on the palate to a huge degree; dense and deep - not like a milk chocolate bar, more like a less-sweet version of dark chocolate, raw cocoa beans, dry cocoa powder. The chocolate gives way fairly quickly to a charred, woody, nutty flavor; oak and nuts, just toasted to hell and burnt to a crisp. Some slightly bitter coffee is in the background, maybe more like espresso - very strong, deep, rich, and dense.

The woody flavor lasts until the end and even begins to take on a smokey character after a bit. A few seconds before the final moments of the sip, the bitterness of the hops start to come alive, and are very noticeable here, unlike many RIS's where the hops are almost nowhere to be seen. They take on a very herbal, leafy, and grassy profile, playing hand-in-hand with the bitterness from the unsweetened cocoa and coffee flavors earlier.

The bitterness from the hops grows and fades out - the aftertaste is a combination of the herbal burn, charred and smokey wood, slight tobacco, and an overall roasted-character finish. Overall, a very dry, bitter, and nearly harsh finish which is supported by some underlying sweetness from the malt. Alcohol warmth is notable at seemingly random times, but never impedes or distracts. Thick and creamy body, silky smooth, robust, and rich. Medium carbonation, slightly higher than many other RIS's.

Wow, a truly complex beer, and very true to it's style. This RIS is unique enough to stand out and that's what has allowed it to make a name for itself. Nice, noticeable bitterness and herbal hop presence which goes unnoticed in so many brews of this style - very refreshing for a change of pace. Slow sipper at 9.0% ABV, but the alcohol plays well with the palate and never gets overbearing. Bottom line: if you like RIS's - stock up on this.

A freakin' evil looking 12 oz. bottle with a sketching of Rasputin and some Russian words (probably a hex on all who partake of the stout within).

Black as night, with a brown chunky head that seems to crawl, rather than stick, to the pint glass. A very impressive cascading effect when poured.

Highly roasted malt aromas and alcoholic to the nose.

Smooth, potent and espresso like with a high burnt malt and hop bitterness that finishes on the sweet side to say the least.

Very complex, and true to its style. Well worth the $3.00 (+/-) paid for the single bottle, and I'd definitely buy it again. Not a beer for the faint of heart, but rather barley wine lovers and chocolate fanatics.

My favorite beer on the planet PERIOD...... Everything about this beer is top notch. I was fortunate enough to work for a distribution company that carried North Coast products. One taste of Rasputin and I was hooked. My only issue is that it only comes in 4 packs :)

Everything about the drinking experience was amazing. As soon as I finished it I grew a beard and invaded Ukraine. The thickness was delectable. In fact, I even consumed it with a fork. Would probably pick this over Kirkland Light any day of the week.

Holy coffee-chocolate-licorice-flavor mother of god -- this one is big indeed. Nice deep black color. Medium head. (Hint of cat pee aroma not so great but easy enough to look past). 1st one and certainly not my last. i was going to try and float a pils on top but that would just f-it up.

Look: blackety black . . . strong and black! you cannot see light coming through the black wonder. this is dark matter in a bottle
Smell: i really cant smell this beer but thats typical since my nose doenst work
Taste: starts creamy dark chocolate and heavy roasted barley, then fades to coffee bitterness and finishes dry. there is a ton of good flavors going on in each sip. however they are all perfectly balanced and there is no hint of an off-note.
Feel: creamy heavy bodied and perfect
Overall: i have been drinking this beer for over 15 years and i have always loved it. it is actually the beer that converted me from Coors to the the craft brew club! i have drank this from bottles and on tap and either way it is an amazing beer. i just decided it is truly perfect! if i could only drink one beer for the rest of my life this is it.

Look: Pours a proper admixture of angelic suicide and blood; the black, inscrutable dent revealed when a boulder on the fiend's frozen lake is dug out of its ditch; the swatch of some god-primeval's mourning cloak; oil powering the cavalcade galloping towards Revelation.

Smell: The reek is of confusion, phobia, and midnight blitzkrieg. Chocolate factories incinerated to charcoal; scorched earth at its most evil and intense; memories of milk on the lips of a dying man; flickers of knife sweat as it quick-slits the cord linking body and soul; bread immolating itself to save the bakery; wood chips reaching into the furious atmosphere discombobulated; branches bled of all resin embracingthe air snapping; succubus licked tootsie roll pushed with unrelenting, though magically gentle, force deep into my mouth; sooty licorice and a chunk of boot from the first Hun gunned down discovered in grandfather's box of curios from the Great War; an undecayed grape dropping out of an emperor's tomb.

Taste: For a moment my throat became the conduit to an Awakened World. Then in dropped desperately baked burnt cookies exploding soil and secret coffee bean maps. Where aroma slashes the nostrils the taste is an unroughened arch, a passageway of absolute angles. Autumn fruits that have conspired to hide among the roots of their trees to witness the bitter-sweet passage of light into darkness; insatiable shifting of motion and stillness, euphoria and angst, leather whips and feathers; mud, of ancient origin, shuddering with the promise of rare life; baker's chocolate about to either destroy a cake or elevate it to saturnine tastes; syrup punched with wooden knuckles;

Feel: A sense of my breath being held hostage in a closet between fire and some oblivion hole.

First taste was poured from draft (nitro) a couple weeks ago, and while it was very good I just don't prefer the flat feeling of a nitro beer so I held off on rating until I could try the original version. I enjoy the feel of carbonation. I later found it again, regular draft, and it was absolutely delicious. I would go so far as to say it's of the best year-round Russian Imperial Stouts I've had to date. A must try if you have not already.

Look:
A deep shade of black with a black hue. 2 finger head coming out of a 12-ounce bottle with a slightly aggressive pour. No light what-so-ever getting through this one. The foam is a nice deep tan/khaki color. Great head retention. Bubble replenishment is great.

Smell:
Very rich coffee, hops, and chocolate. There is a fair amount of sweet syrup that wafts up as well. There is a slight smoky smell along with a bit of caramel.

Taste:
A good deal of hop bitterness cuts through right up front. Then it kicks into sweet caramel, coffee, toffee, chocolate, and hops (rich and savory, not bitter). There is a nice roasted/smoky flavor in there. The sweetness starts to fade out, and some hop bitterness seems to come back as it dries out. I was left with a very nice aftertaste when the flavors die out. Tastes of smoked grains, caramel syrup, and hops linger on.

Feel:
Very rich, thick, and full bodied. Never goes flat and a bit oily.

Overall:
This is an amazing beer. I have seen this beer in the top beers list for a while. I can see why. This beer is very good with many complex flavors. There are sweet flavors, bitter flavors, slightly fruity, hoppy, and smoky. This tastes like a mixture of a few beers: Black IPA, Brown Porter, Chocolate Stout, Coffee Stout, and a Milk Stout. Very impressive. I bought this in a 4 – pack (as I normally only purchase singles of beers) and will definitely polish off the pack and purchase more in the future. This just may become one of my favorites.

I have to say this is the best imperial stout I have had so far,pours a deep borwn but not quite black with a light almond colored head,aroma is burnt with some rasin notes.The taste is a bombshell very buttery and rum-like with some light earthy tones,love the butteriness of this beer along with the rum flavor.A real complex brew that is pretty easy to drink for the alcohol content,what a real nice beer.

Just finished my second 12 oz bottle of this and DAMN is that good. Most of my experience with beer has been with Belgian strong Ales, in particular all of the Trappist beers along with similar Belgian brands and American beers in the Belgian style. My two favorite beers are Rochefort 10 and St Bernardus 12. In recent years I've been trying different Stouts and Porters and, although I don't have tremendous experience with them yet, I'm quickly discovering the world of flavors out there that go beyond the various dark fruits and assorted sugars that accompany your typical Dubbles, Triples and Quadruples.

A fellow shopper at the market recommended Old Rasputin Imperial Stout to me and I've been blown away by how something so roasted and bitter can at the same time be sweet and smooth. From the get go this beer is thick, viscous, and oily, not that that's to it's detriment. In fact the wonderful chewiness just hooks you into discovering the many wonderful facets of the beer. Immediately you taste the full intensity of the coffee, toffee, roasted malts and baker's chocolate it has. There's a burnt quality to the malt that, along with providing a pleasant bitterness, also includes the required sweetness that is reminiscent of a burnt s'mores marshmallow rather than anything unpleasant. Then there's the coffee flavor. I tend to drink really dark, black coffee and this beer has loads of that toasty, smokey and bitter flavor that I cherish. Finally there's the great Christmas toffee and dark chocolate flavors that blend seamlessly with the sweetness and bitterness of the other flavors and tie everything together nicely.

Also quite remarkable it this beer's head, which is truly like a silky pillow. I can easily say that the foam tasted and felt in my mouth like a liquid marshmallow. I've never had a beer whose head was that silky, smooth, and sweet. I couldn't believe it was beer foam.

In the short amount of time I've been exploring Imperial Stouts I can easily say that this the best I've come across so far. I'm happy to give it my highest recommendation.

I read several of the reviews on this beer. Ive had other imperial stouts and was excited to try this one. I couldn't be more disappointed. The feel and look are fine for an Imperial Ale, but my overall score is based on the taste, which is the most important factor. It's way over-hopped so it drowns out any subtle flavors from the malts. Stouts, in my opinion should be malty to balanced, with the bitterness coming from the roasting of the malts rather than an over abundance of hops. It's as if they're trying to turn it into the dark version of an IPA, an IDA? IPAs are fine if that's what you go for, but when I drink stout ale I want to enjoy balanced malty goodness, not Christmas tree flavored brew. This is just a terrible ale. Brewers shouldn't feel they need to add a ridiculous amount of hops just because the alcohol content is high. This ale would probably be pretty tasty if they dialed the hops back a bit. I didn't give it a 1 because I would reserve that for Coors and Budweiser.

Pours a motor oil chocolate brown, very deep. Head is amazing, like the top of a rootbeer float, tan and chunky. Lacing is some of the most amazing I have seen, it is thick and glues itself to the sides of the glass!!. Aroma is of malt, roasted coffee, spice and a hint of chocolate. Taste is bold, with burnt malt/coffee being predominant. Could have used with a little more roast and less burnt. Alcohol is pretty well hidden for a 9% ABV. The undertones of coffee, spice and light chocolate would have been better if it wasn't for the overwhelming burnt bitterness. Ok, I guess it wants to be more, and I am trying, once I get the bitterness off my palate..

It poured pitch black with a thick one inch foamy head that didn’t want to die untl the last drop was gone from the glass. The lacing is thick and clingy. The smell is roasted malt with coffee mixed really well. The taste is bitter but very sweet having the hops combine nicely with the roasted malt and coffee. The beer gets sweeter as it goes. There is an ever so slight caramel in the taste as well. The palate is medium to thick bodied. Overall, this beer never ceases to amaze me no matter how many times I have it.

Smell - nothing stands out, just a bit of alcohol, though not as overwhelming as I'd expected

Taste - starts off with a bitter bite, in the way of a strong coffee, with noticeable (but not overwhelming) alcohol present. This fades into a roasted flavor, and leaves a bitterness on the back of the tongue for a bit.

Feel - It is smooth,not very carbinated, texture is more water than cream, but not very watery.

Overall: This is an OK stout. I don't know how it compares to other RIS's, since this is only the second one that I've tasted. I drink alot of regular stouts, however, and love em. I bought Old Rasputin because of the hype; I thought this was going to be either an "I really LOVE it" or "Omg, I HATE it!" beer, based on the reviews. However, I just feel in the middle. It's not bad, I'll enjoy drinking the bottles I have, and I might buy it again, but I won't be in a rush to do so. It's simply OK.

I was expecting a lot more complexity, but really, I think it's kind of bland. I've tasted stouts with a lot more flavor than this, and I've also had stouts that have a much harder alcohol bit than this. To the reviewers going on about the "kick in the mouth" alcohol experience....I really don't experience that, personally. This is a typical stout. Maybe some people are just used to drinking light beers?

Wow, thick with maltyness. Plus a nice kick (which implies you won't be drinking these all night long). Full-bodied with no bothersome aftertaste, so really nice overall. No odd tastes like: quinine, or coffee, or nuts ... just a good proper Stout taste.

A steady go to brew for me. Had a pint or three back in the 90s, strayed until several months ago.
Goes especially well with the rain, but I plan on savoring Old Rasputin year round, until the end of Time ...
Poured into a big mouth wine glass, enjoyed with a chocolate muffin.

The label is exceptionally attractive. Pitch black pour, light colored micro foam decorated with pearls of macro bubbles. Smell is warm and ancient, yet slight, may be due to a stuffy nose. Taste is tip-of-the-tongue godly, definitely in my top 5. The mouthfeel is creamy yet refreshingly carbonated. This beer changes rapidly with exposure, new hints and undertones with separated sips, though I suggest you finish it quite quickly, as to not lose it's integrity. Great Buzz. Fantastic Beer.

This is a beautiful beer: a long-lived gigantic pebbly tan head that leaves extensive, complex lacing on a pitch-black body with sullen ruby highlights. The nose is subdued roasted malt- molasses and toffee- faintly sweet with alcohol undertones. The palate is alcohol and bitter roasted malt- mostly molasses and bitter, bitter chocolate- with the alcohol notes gaining traction towards the back of the palate. The finish is a flash of chocolate followed by a beer-defining roasted bitterness that lingers forever. Mouthfeel is a bit thinnish for the full body, but creamy and warming, and peppery from some very fizzy carbonation.

Old Rapustin has been a long sought after beer for me, jokingly using the "Rasputin" name in regular conversation referencing beer purchases with my girlfriend.

This beer is black with a light light tan head (quite big) with micro bubbles in tan spraying all over as lacing.

The smell is of roasted malts, maybe some roasted chocolate, and also a bit of oats. This smell brings home the taste, a mash of roasted malts and many darker flavors while maintaining a minor hop bitterness that does not linger. Goes down easy and maintains a surprisingly light mouth feel.

I really enjoy this beer but I don't think it is something I haven't had before. It feels reallly good, by the time you are finishing number 2 (I drink fast). I think it deserves a good rating but it isn't absolutely blowing my mind. That being said it is really good, that can't be denied. I will likely buy again sometime, but it's no immediate concern. It did cost over $10 for a 4 pack. Maybe if it came in a 6, I'd feel a little more convinced. Good beer!